Suzanne Fosdike began volunteering at the Meredith Road shop in 2012 after her son, Royce, died at the hospice and Suzanne “wanted to give something back” to say thank you for the brilliant care that he received. She said: “The hospice is a happy environment, if that’s not a strange thing to say about a hospice. It’s just a nice environment for ill people and their families”.
Suzanne and her family also do a lot of fundraising for the hospice, with her son and daughter completing a marathon, and they also have a tribute fund for Royce, which has raised more than £25,000 for the hospice.
Suzanne said: “I wanted to give something back, but I couldn’t volunteer on the inpatient unit straight away, so I decided to do one morning a week in the shop, and I’m very happy here. Everyone’s friendly and helpful and I like the whole environment of the shop.
“I volunteer on a Monday morning because at the time that was all I could commit to with work. But if you can just commit a few hours you should do it, because it all adds up, and you don’t need any previous retail experience.
“I work on the till, sorting and pricing clothes, and just generally checking the shop is clean and tidy and looks nice.
“The best thing about volunteering for the hospice is knowing that I’m helping the hospice to raise vital funds, along with making new friends and meeting new people.”
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